It's that time of year again ladies! Being a Yorkie
Lass, I'm drawn to the Jewel of Yorkshire but more to satisfy my obsession
than a calling of my roots! A marathon of belly workshops right on our
doorstep that provides a wide variation of classes, fabulous teachers and of
course lots of Souks.
Diane, Barbara, Sarah and I went along for the Saturday workshops. As we were
only going for the one day, we used the
"lets-try-and-cram-as-much-in-as-possible" method to select our
workshops. When we booked I was intending to get fit before we went, but as
April approached the thought of 7 hours of dancing worried me somewhat….
Never mind, Diane, Barb and I attended Leyla Jauvana's Flamenco Style workshop
first. We had done a Flamenco workshop before, but Leyla really explained and
demonstrated the passion and tension required for this dance. Lots of energy,
skirt swishing and foots stamping = Fun! As always, at these things you bump
into old friends and new. Donna and Fay did this class too and looked far more
proficient than me at the Fan moves…I'm not a prop person, or maybe just
haven't found the right one yet?
Sarah and Connie were doing Anne Kingstons Belly burlesque workshop beneath us
(sorry ladies, we must have sounded like elephants!), which she said was
cheeky and a great introduction to the dance by the lovely Anne.
Madeline Mitchells "Shake and Bake" for me
next. A simple North African choreo that could be done spontaneously at a
Hafla if there are enough of you. Meanwhile the others went to
"Dark side Tribal" with the lovely Heike Humphreys. Scary moves to
help along with a gothic style or just to add something to the Halloween
Haflas. This contained head banging (yes that's right!) of which I received a
demo in the car on the way back..(Wayne's World springs to mind). All in all,
I was a tad envious as it sounded such a laugh. Think Di and I have convinced
Barb to do something other than "Thriller" now anyway.
Shopping, shopping, and more shopping…
Virtual anyway (costs nothing to look!) whilst grabbing a bite to eat and
catching up with friends. Onwards and upwards to Chris Ogden's "Troupe
Movements". Chris is a fantastic teacher. I always get so much out of her
workshops and its good to have drumming provided by Woody.. There
were no new moves here, but we did come away with some great methods for
getting from one formation to another, pairs, lines, chevrons, circles that
sort of thing, that could work for any dance style and looks great with a
large group. Meanwhile, Di was being put through the paces at Dawn O'Brien's
Body conditioning. A great way to work on your dancer's posture and strengthen
up muscles we have forgotten about.
So, we made it to the last workshop of the day. Barbara and Diane saved the
most energetic class to the end and went off the Michelle Penders Gypo class.
Michelle is such an energetic teacher and we have a lot to thank her for from
the moves we have borrowed / modified / incorporated into our dances. Sarah
and I attended Heike's Tribal and Indian Styling which was HARD!. Well, the
sideways ribcage figure of 8 was anyway. I think it was a sign that my body
had had enough, (or maybe I'm just getting old, should have watched less telly
and done more exercise)…She's a fun teacher but still is a stickler for
technique. She incorporated some lovely turns and Mudras, and nice ideas to
add into any type of dance.
We decided not to stay for the hafla this time (What did we miss?!...review
required please!) And judging by our weariness maybe that was the right thing
to do. However as we left Barb announced "ladies, I picked up the forms
for October!"…
Note to Self :Better start saving and jogging now then Claire….